There was a loud scream from both the sisters as the iron ring, worn through by long rubbing, finally snapped asunder.
The tremendous pressure was suddenly lifted, and the two women were free.
With a single impulse, they flew toward the kitchen door and fell into each other's arms.
The Panchronicon had gone off at a tangent at last!
"Oh, Rebecca--Rebecca!" cried Phoebe, in tears. "I was afraid I'd never see you again!"
Rebecca cried a little too, and patted her sister's shoulder in silence a moment.
"There, deary!" she said, after awhile. "Now let's set down an' hev a good cup o' tea. Then we can go to bed comfortable."
"But, Rebecca," said Phoebe, stepping back and wiping her eyes, "what shall we do about the Panchronicon? We're jest makin' fer Infinite Space, or somewheres, as fast as we can go."
"Can't help it, Phoebe. Ye sha'n't touch a thing in that engine-room this day--not while I'm here. Ye might blow us up the nex' time. No--I guess we'll jest hev to trust in the Lord. He brought us into this pickle, an' it's fer Him to see us out of it."
With this comforting reflection the two sisters brewed a pot of tea, and after partaking of the refreshing decoction, went to their respective beds.
"I declare, I'm dog tired!" said Rebecca.
Those were their last words for many hours.
How long they slept after their extraordinary experience with the runaway air-ship neither Rebecca nor Phoebe ever knew; but when they awoke all was still, and it was evidently dark outside, for no ray of light found its way past the hangings they had placed over their windows.
There was something uncanny in the total silence. Even the noise of the machinery was stilled, and the two sisters dressed together in Rebecca's room for company's sake.
"Do you suppose we've arrived in Infinite Space yet?" Rebecca asked.
"It's still enough fer it," Phoebe replied, in a low voice. "But I don't hear the Panchronicon's machinery any more. It must have run down entirely, wherever we are."
At that moment there was borne faintly to their ears the distant crowing of a cock.
"Well, there!" said Rebecca, with an expression of immense relief, "I don't believe the's any hens an' roosters in Infinite Space, is the'?"
Phoebe laughed and shook her head as she ran to the window. She drew aside the shawl hanging before the glass and peered out.